This Rifle Doesn't Need Bullets to Shoot Down Drones

The device you can see being used to kill an unsuspecting flying bot is a ‘cyber rifle’, built by the US Army Cyber Institute.

The name is a little misleading as it’s not really a rifle: it’s a Raspberry Pi and a Wi-Fi antenna cobbled together, which takes advantage of a known security flaw with Parrot quadrotors to ‘shoot’ them down. The rifle shape, according to an interview with Popular Mechanics, is “mostly for kicks”.

The familiar shape is meant to make it easier for military brass to understand the tactical application of cyber-weapons. It’s not some overly complicated computer; it’s as simple as 'Aim. Shoot. Crash.' The utility isn’t limited to drones, either: the ACI also showed it turning off lights and opening the doors of a cute little bunker. [Popular Mechanics]